ARTHUR – If you've ever driven into or near Arthur, you've likely experienced "the smell."
"Whatever way the wind blows, it smells like somebody has dropped poop on your yard," said Arthur resident Stacey Ireland. "It's terrible."
Often likened to dog poop or rotting food, most residents blame Walker Industries for the smell, a composting plant located on Wellington Road 109, which processes compost material from municipal green bin programs – including Wellington County's, commercial and institutional food waste and recently invested millions into new composting infrastructure at its Arthur location.
The expansion has some residents both in the community and online saying they feel that they've experienced the smell more frequently this summer and are looking to the facility for answers and stronger odour control methods.
"Some days you hang the laundry out in the back to dry and some days you don't," said resident Brad McGowan, commenting on how the compost smell has "worsened a little bit" post-expansion.
A lifelong resident who experienced the smell even when she lived on the other side of town, Ireland wants to know why Walker's smell remains so strong compared to neighbouring farms.
"They can't really use Febreeze or anything to make (the smell) better but ... there's gotta be a way," said Ireland.
Comparing the smell to "rotten food cooking," resident Donna Williams said when she moved to Arthur the smell used to be once a month every four to six weeks. Now it feels "more frequent."
"The residents, we all say the same thing – don't move to Arthur, it stinks," said Williams.
And it's not just the smell for Williams, who said it creates a red slimy residue that forces her to change the water in her bird bath once a week.
"It's the residue. A lot of people will say they left a mat out and they'll pick it up after the rain and it's red," said Williams. "It's the air quality. You can maybe put up with the smell, we've been putting up with it, but it's what we're breathing."
When asked what smell mitigation measures Walker Industries have in place, media representative Cody Cabral said the company has been a "proud local operator and community partner" since 2016 and played a "key role" in helping the community manage its organic waste while promoting soil health and a circular economy.
While the company has not increased its approved processing capacity, Cabral said its recent "extensive modernization" introduced additional GORE composting cells with a GORE Cover composting system that can "control the composting environment while reducing odours."
The compost facility's receiving building, which is used to receive, shred and mix organize waste is also equipped with a ventilation system that passes air through a three-phase cross-flow chemical scrubber with a minimum odour removal efficiency of 75 per cent and is discharged to the atmosphere through a stack.
In an emailed statement, Wellington North CAO Brooke Lambert said the township has heard past concerns about the smell from Walker's but has not seen an increase since the expansion – clarifying that the company has been "very open" about communicating with the township and public when they've had questions.
"We take the feedback of our neighbours and communities very seriously and are committed to operating to the highest standards of operational and environmental safety," said Cabral. "We welcome community members to contact us directly so that we can work to resolve any concerns that may arise."
At the end of the day, most residents agreed Walker's positives outweigh the negatives- they just wish there was a more permanent solution for the smell.
"I'm not being poisoned or anything so you just gotta put up with it," said McGowan.
If residents have any questions or concerns, they're asked to contact Adam Egan, the business operations manager for Walker's environmental division at [email protected]
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
